BACKGROUND The behaviour adopted by individuals is moulded by their perception of various issues. In spite of well established benefits of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) to babies, mothers and society, the EBF practice rate (EBFPr) in our environment has remained low. OBJECTIVE To evaluate mother's perception of exclusive breastfeeding and determine the relationship between such view and their...

OBJECTIVE To test the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral counseling on the rate and duration of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) during the first 6 months of an infant's life compared with routine counseling. METHODS A single blind cluster-randomized controlled trial was undertaken in 40 Union Councils of a rural district in the northwest province of Pakistan between May 2009 and April 2010. ...

BACKGROUND For the optimal nutrition of children under 2 years of age, it is considered important that they be exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months before being given complementary food. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES A cross-sectional nutritional baseline survey was undertaken in 2011 in the Kasungu and Mzimba Districts of Malawi to assess the nutritional status of children under 2 years of age...

BACKGROUND Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for the first six months can have a significant impact on reducing child morbidity and mortality rates. The objective of this study was to compare the determinants of and trends in EBF in infants ≤ 5 months from the 2006 and 2011 Nepal Demographic and Health Surveys. METHODS Data on mother/infant pairs having infants of ≤ 5 months from 2006 (n = 482) a...

Early nutrition is critical for later health and sustainable development. We determined potential effectiveness of the Kenyan Community Health Strategy in promoting exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) in urban poor settings in Nairobi, Kenya. We used a quasi-experimental study design, based on three studies [Pre-intervention (2007-2011; n=5824), Intervention (2012-2015; n=1110) and Comparison (2012-2...

OBJECTIVE To analyze the association between the degree of compliance with the ten steps of the Breastfeeding-Friendly Primary Care Initiative (BFPCI) and the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) in infants younger than six months in the city of Rio de Janeiro. METHODS This was a cross-sectional study conducted in a representative sample of 56 primary health care units of this municipa...

BACKGROUND Despite the presence of high impact interventions to improve infant and young child feeding, only about 52% of mothers in Ethiopia exclusively breastfeed their child for the first six months after delivery. Although the decision to breastfeed a child is ultimately that of the mother, this decision could be influenced by a variety of factors including social-cognitive ones. OBJECTIV...

BACKGROUND The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends six months of exclusive breastfeeding. Despite documented health, social and economic benefits, the practice of exclusive breastfeeding is quite low and information on influencing factors is limited especially from slum settlements. Our goal is to assess the prevalence and evaluate factors associated with early cessation of exclusive bre...

INTRODUCTION Childbirth is a stressful factor that can trigger disorders such as depression in women. The various problems characteristic to the puerperal period make mothers more prone than ever to stress, anxiety and depression. The aim of this study was to determine relationship between psychological factors and social support and breastfeeding process in mothers presenting to healthcare cen...

Method 1,303 exclusively breastfeeding (EBF) infants were recruited to the EAT Study at 3 months of age and randomized to either EBF until around 6 months of age (Standard Introduction Group SIG) or early introduction of 6 allergenic foods (cow’s milk, egg, fish, wheat, sesame and peanut) alongside breastfeeding (Early Introduction Group EIG). Data from the UK 2010 Infant Feeding Survey (IFS) w...